The Cougars are hosting the Nova Scotia Major Bantam Hockey League’s provincial championship tournament for the second year in a row. Seven players are back from last year’s club that just missed out on reaching the championship game, losing 2-1 in double overtime to the Halifax Hawks in the semifinal. The Cougars went on to win a bronze medal.

One of those players back to rectify last year’s result is team captain Derek Gentile. The host Cougars open tournament play on Thursday at the Emera Centre Northside in North Sydney.

“I don’t want a repeat, so I think there will be extra fire in their bellies this time around because they don’t want that to happen again,” said the 14-year-old from Sydney at team practice on Tuesday.

It’s been a big season for Gentile. He won the league’s scoring title in the final weekend of the season, posting 70 points (31 goals, 39 assists) in 33 games. That was one point better than Shane Bowers of the Bubba Rays Gulls.

Next year, Gentile plans on attending Rothesay Netherwood School in New Brunswick to continue his hockey career. From there, he’s keeping his options open. Hockey runs in his blood as well. His father, Paul, played for both Sydney Academy and the UCCB Capers, while uncle, Dave, played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“I definitely put my work into it, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” he said of this year’s scoring crown. “They’re a great group of guys who were routing for me and doing anything they could. As much as it was my personal goal, I think we did it as a team.”

Cougars head coach Ken Tracey said having leadership from players like Gentile from last year’s team will be huge for this week’s tournament. The top seven teams in the league will compete, including the Bedford Barons, Bubba Rays Gulls, Cougars, Western Hurricanes, Dartmouth Whalers, Cole Harbour Storm and Nova Jr. X-Men.

The Cougars finished in third place in the league standings with a 26-4-3 record for 55 points, and battled with second-place Bubba Rays (27-5-1) and first-place Bedford (28-3-2) for top spot all season.

“The seven teams that are involved in the provincials, there are four who are certainly capable of winning it and three that can knock you out of a tournament,” he said. “The seven teams coming, a break here and there, you’re healthy, you get the bounces and everybody gets equal opportunity.”

Following round-robin play, the top four teams move on to the semifinals on Saturday. Sunday, the semifinal losers play for bronze, while the winners meet for gold.